Pregnancy

​Your Body, Your BabyPregnancy can be one of the greatest joys in life, yet for some it can be one of the hardest to achieve. If you feel as though you have exhausted all of your fertility options, or if you just aren’t sure what to do, chiropractic care can be the solution you’ve been searching for. As with all things chiropractic, a nervous system that isn’t functioning at its peak can cause multiple issues relating to fertility. With appropriate alignment of the spine, the nervous system can return to its natural function and give your body a better chance at fertility.Pre-conception care creates a healthy body with greater uterine function and regular menstruation. By ensuring the body is best prepared to receive a baby, it greatly increases the chances of conception and a healthy pregnancy to follow. After conception, consistent chiropractic care during the course of your pregnancy will increase the mother’s balance, alignment, and flexibility, which can make carrying the baby easier and more pleasant. Also, the preventative care to keep the spine well aligned will keep the nervous system function at its best and alleviate many of the secondary symptoms of pregnancy such as morning sickness, aches, pains, and swelling.During labor and delivery, mothers who have received consistent chiropractic care have said the birth was much less traumatic, experiencing well-timed contractions with a far easier and shorter delivery. Post-natal chiropractic care can help to realign any damage done during natural childbirth, helping mothers energy return quickly and helping it last.If you are pregnant, one of the best things you can do is see a doctor of chiropractic. Chiropractic care provides so many things a pregnant body needs: a flexible and balanced spine, hips and pelvis; internal organs without postural stress and freedom from nerve stress – all essential for a healthy pregnancy and delivery.Awaiting arrival of your new baby will be a time of change for you and your body. Studies show that women are able to carry and deliver their babies with more comfort when receiving chiropractic care. Over the course of pregnancy, expectant mothers’ weight gain will reach somewhere between 20 and 40 pounds. The increase in weight can create spinal misalignment and/or postural distortions, which in turn affect nerves, muscles, and mobility of joints. In addition, many women experience heartburn, rib pain, pubic pain, headaches, sinus congestion and low back pain, often time because of the spinal changes that occur during pregnancy, many of which that were not there prior to becoming pregnant. Many women report relief of these symptoms while under chiropractic care.

What Does A Doctor Of Chiropractic Do?A pregnant woman needs to have her body as healthy and strong as possible in order to handle the rigors of pregnancy and childbirth. Chiropractic care will help ensure that all the body systems function optimally; especially the reproductive system including the uterus, ovaries and related organs and structures which are essential for a healthy pregnancy. If the body structure is causing the slightest nerve interference to these systems it could adversely affect the mother and the developing fetus. Dr. Kayla is certified in the Webster’s Technique, a specific chiropractic sacral analysis and diversified adjustment, primarily for pregnant women. The goal of the adjustment is to reduce the effects of sacral subluxation/ SI joint dysfunction. In so doing neuro-biomechanical function in the pelvis is improved. Dr. Kayla will examine your body for these subluxations, and if found, she will correct them with a gentle and specific chiropractic adjustment.

Can Chiropractic Help?Chiropractic care may help maintain pregnancy, control vomiting, deliver full-term infants with ease and produce healthier infants. Chiropractic has demonstrated success with back pain, premature contractions and back labor. [8][9][10]If you are experiencing any low back pain, or learn that your baby is breech, posterior or transverse, please consider chiropractic care.

Low Back PainReceiving chiropractic care during pregnancy may help ensure that the expectant mother’s pelvic bones are balanced, often times facilitating a quicker, easier delivery. In one study, women receiving chiropractic care through their first pregnancy had 24% shorter labor times than the group not receiving chiropractic care. As the baby continues to increase in size, the mother's center of gravity shifts forward. In order to compensate, the natural curves of the spine exaggerate causing low back pain. Studies involving women receiving chiropractic care during pregnancy reported relief of back pain. Chiropractic care can provide freedom from interference of normal nerve energy, which is vital for the development of a healthy baby and mother.

Post-partum RecoveryPost-partum chiropractic care is a must to ensure that the mother can achieve pre-pregnant status. Correcting subluxations within the spine and pelvis are very important considerations to achieve and maintain optimal health potential. Chiropractic care for your new baby is also very important. Adjustments to newborns contain only ounces of force. This force is directed into the spine to facilitate health and remove vertebral subluxations. What better way to help prevent problems that may have arisen during the birth?

Newborn AdjustmentsBirth can be traumatic on a newborn. Any number of issues can arise through the misalignment of the newborn spine, such as difficulty breastfeeding, colic, asthma, digestive issues, and some behavioral problems. Correction of misalignment and stressed spine in infants will reduce the risk of illness and other disorders common in infants that result from the trauma of birth. With the immune system operating at its peak, the baby will be stronger and healthier.​[8] Stein K The value of chiropractic care in cases of pregnancy. ACA J Chiropractic. July 1964: 19[9] Brynhildsen J hansson A, Persson A, Hammar M, Follow-up of patients with low back pain during pregnancy. Obstetrics & Gynecology. 1998;91 (2):182-186.[10] Phillips C, An effective drug-free approachto premature contractions. ICA Review, Oct 1998.[13] Lisi AJ. Chiropractic spinal manipulation for low back pain of pregnancy: a retrospective case series. Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health. 2006; 51: e7-10.